Local artist finds her inspiration in the ‘romantic’

Gourgaud Gallery showcasing Cranbury native’s paintings.

By: Sweta Haldar
   
    The Gourgaud Gallery is showcasing the paintings of a hometown artist during August.
    Twenty-three-year-old Cranbury native Lauren Scott said she is both nervous and eager about this opportunity, the first solo exhibition of her work.
    Ms. Scott, 23, of North Main Street, said that her paintings deal with art’s eternal themes of life, human relationships and childhood memories.
    "I’ve always been extremely attracted to people, human relationships and interactions," she said, adding that studying famous paintings led her to "pursue a figural style in my own personal work."
    While she draws inspiration from Romantic-
era painters, Ms. Scott has no interest in mimicking them. Her materials — which incorporate acrylic paints and a variety of fabrics — as well as her choices of subject matter, are her own.
    "I take a modern twist with my personal memories," she said. "My paintings on display in this particular exhibit encompass my experiences growing up — all lighthearted scenes on the brink of comical. They are painted on familiar patterned fabric."
    Some of the "lighthearted scenes" depicted within Ms. Scott’s paintings include a seemingly innocent cherub flying away from the puzzled victim of his latest prank in "Mystery" and a gondola passenger trying to shove a burly bear off their shared seat in "No Room for the Two of Us."
    The familiarity of the unconventional canvases upon which she paints "speaks to me in a certain way," she said, which adds to the personal nature of her paintings.
    "I guess you could say they are very autobiographical," she said of her artwork.
    Drawn to painting at a young age, one of her mentors was an art teacher at Princeton High School, John Kavalos.
    "(Mr. Kavalos) was an artist himself, who had been through art school. He showed us his work for inspiration, took us on museum trips to New York City, and turned the class into a community, with critiques and work days and a pot of coffee always on hand," she said.
    Inspired by her teacher’s example to attend art school, Ms. Scott entered the Maryland Institute College of Art, from which she graduated in 2006. There she began to cultivate her personal style and "discovered painting on upholstery fabric and using elements of collage," she said.
    "(I) found great satisfaction in the tactility of the surface created. Upholstery fabric seemed a great substitute for canvas and soon after, I started incorporating wood stain, to add to the layering effect without losing the pattern of the fabric," she said.
    With her first solo show ahead, Ms. Scott is eager and grateful to Cranbury Township, adding that the Gourgaud Gallery "is a beautiful space."
    "I’m extremely excited," she said. "It is an honor to be able to have my first solo show in my hometown, that I am very fond of."
    While this exhibition will surely not be her last, Ms. Scott is intent on maintaining a grounded and humble attitude toward her work and her artistic career.
    And she has some advice for those considering an artistic path.
    "Remember your roots. It’s important to know what struck you in the beginning, what makes you happy and to just run with it," Ms. Scott said.
    "Recent Works" by Lauren Scott will be on exhibit at the Gourgaud Gallery, located in Town Hall on Schoolhouse Lane, through Aug. 27. The gallery is open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday, and on Sundays from noon to 3 p.m. For more information, call (609) 395-0900, ext. 241.